TACOMA — A federal judge heard arguments Monday about whether Washington officials should disclose about 138,000 names of people who signed petitions to force a vote on a 2009 domestic partnership law.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said he planned to issue a ruling in about two weeks.
Opponents of the measure, which expanded gay partnership rights, managed to get enough signatures two years ago to place it on the ballot, although voters still approved the law in Referendum 71. The petition organizers are now fighting to protect the names of those who signed on to support it, arguing that they could face harassment.
James Bopp, Jr., an attorney pushing to keep the names private, said supporters of the law had threatened to publicize the names of petitioners as a way to discourage people from putting their names to the document. He said there’s a reasonable probability that it would lead to harassment.
“This would become a common tactic,” Bopp said after the court hearing. “This will create a standard of conduct. Everyone has a stake in this.”
Anne Egeler, a lawyer with the attorney general’s office, argued that the names should be released because the public has a right to assess the documents to uncover fraud by petition organizers or improper handling by state officials. She said angry words are not enough to invoke the extraordinary step of denying the release of records under state disclosure laws.
“If that were enough, every debate in this country over political issues … would be enough to shut down disclosure,” Egeler said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that release of the signatures does not violate constitutional rights, but justices said the group behind the Washington state referendum — Protect Marriage Washington — can still try to prove the release would put petition signers in danger.
The measure asked voters to approve or reject the latest expansion of the state’s domestic partnership law, granting registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples. It was approved with 53 percent of the vote.
Full-fledged gay marriage is not allowed under Washington law.
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